Published Monday, 16 January 2012
Paddy Kershaw took part on the search for his 21-year-old son Kevin, as local boats scoured the site of the Adam and Eve rocks near Glandore for a second unsuccessful day.
"I'd rather be out on the water and be out there on the site where it took place," he said.
The trip was Kevin's first on a trawler and his father explained when he last heard from his son.
"The last text message I got was Friday at 3.30pm. I still have it in my phone. He was excited about going on the ship," he said.
"I think the bodies are in the hull of the boat, and I think myself they were asleep when they hit the rocks."
One survivor, an Egyptian man, was rescued from the water and was treated in hospital.
A further three Egyptian fisherman were aboard, as well as skipper Michael Hayes from Co Wexford.
Navy coordinators have prevented teams from entering the water, although the boat is visible at low tides, due to the persistent two metre swells sweeping in from the south.
Lieutenant Commander Paddy Harkin, Commander of the LE Niamh, said the swells from were hampering efforts to get dive teams on to the wreck.
"The decision to commence an underwater search of the Tit Bonhomme and the immediate vicinity remains under constant review between myself, the Naval Dive Team Leader and the Coastguard," he said.
Kevin Kershaw, who is originally from Dublin, had been considering a career on fishing boats.
Wreckage from the Tit Bonhomme, which went down at around 6am on Sunday, was strewn over a wide area.
The search was stood down for a second night because of the swells, with 18 boats, including Union Hall fishing boats, trawling across the entrance to the harbour in pairs with nets tied between them.
Simon Coveney, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Marine, said: "It's a tragedy. There's no other way to describe it.
"There's a huge community effort going on and everything that can be done is being done but there is no getting away from the tragedy."
An investigation into how the incident happened is now underway, but the Adam and Eve rocks are notorious in the area.
Just last month, three fishermen were rescued from a life raft after their trawler sank at the same spot.